It was April of 2009. I had just started my 2-month missionary bootcamp before deploying to the Middle East. During this training I heard all about how many wonderful ways I could get persecuted, imprisoned, or killed for being a missionary. While that certainly could create fear enough to lie in situations, it was always stressed that deceit cannot be used if you want to tell the truth. How can the Gospel spread if its messengers use deceit?

In journalism and research, truth and lies can’t share the same space. Deceit taints the end product. As I say this, I make the distinction between deceit and concealment. I have no ethical issues with concealment. If I participated in a report, I may want my responses or identity concealed but not lied about. On the other end, I wouldn’t want to be lied to, either. If I am part of a study that researches anxiety, let me know. Don’t lie about what I’m being tested for. When deceit is used, the variables become unreliable. Millions of variations of thoughts and actions can occur from what I understand to be reality. How does that make for accurate responses if my reality is false? Deceit directly lets the someone manipulate my reactions to meet his/her desired outcomes. While concealment will still yield different results from open revelation, at least my responses will be based on a reality I created from truth rather than lies. If the end goal is truth, truth must be embraced. I don’t necessarily need to know all the details or what is the full objective of the report or study. However, I must have truth if my reactions are to be accurate.

To bookend my response with my mission experience, I did learn about concealment in training. I learned Christ never deceived but did conceal. He never once stated to be the Son of God. He knew this would be taken as validation for the Pharisees’ charges of blasphemy. Instead, when confronted with the question, “Are you then the Son of God,” He replied, “You say that I am.” He deflected the question and answered at the same time. When I finally went to mission field, I learned that claiming to be a Christian was understood as someone who drank, hired prositutes, loved war, and hated anyone that wasn’t like them. The term Christian was a very inaccurate and often dangerous label to identify with. When I would be asked if I was a Christian, I learned to conceal but not deceive. I would reply, “I am a follower of Isa (Jesus).” This would be accepted as a good thing and open doors for the Gospel.

Many have already started their Christmas shopping but who can forget last year’s holiday season. Target suffered a major hack that stole debit and credit data for around 40 million accounts. This year has seen several major hacks. Around February, 233 million user on Ebay had their information stolen. During the summer, Healthcare.gov had a security breach. In September, Home Depot warned that 56 million accounts were at risk due to hacking. August saw hacker access and distribute hundreds of personal photos of celebrities on the website 4chan. And just last week, a hacker group called Guardians of Peace targeted Sony Pictures. In addition, to sending threatening messages to Sony employees, the group stole an estimated 100 terrabytes of sensitive data from the company.

There are certainly those online who aim to do harm. These malicious hackers, called black hats, work alone or in groups tosteal finances, information, or just create chaos. However, the government and private companies have found the best way to combat black hats is with ethical hackers, also known as white hats. This digital warfare is fought between black and white hats online, everyday.

The future of a controversial Oklahoma monument continues to be debated. Oklahoma Rep. Mike Ritze sponsored a bill in 2009 to have a 10 commandments display installed on the State Capitol’s grounds. His family privately funded the memorial, which was finally erected in November of 2012.

Despite Oklahoma being firmly in the Bible belt, the display has received numerous complaints. Organizations like American Civil Liberties Union and American Atheists have filed lawsuits in response to the placement of the memorial. The ACLU states in their petition they, “declare the placement of the Ten Commandments Monument to be in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution, and as such, an illegal appropriation of public property in support of religion.”

In addition, various religious organizations have sought equality by having monuments erected representing their beliefs. A New York Satanist group known as the Satanic Temple has crowd funded and lobbied for their own statue to be installed. Similarly, the Universal Society of Hinduism applied for the installment of a Hindu god monument.

The controversy over the 10 commandments and religious monuments has sparked discussion over the separation of faith and the State. An Oklahoma district judge dismissed the ACLU’s lawsuit that the display was unconstitutional. The ACLU disagrees with the ruling. The organization is now taking their appeal to Oklahoma’s Supreme Court.

While the debate surrounding the 10 commandments monument still stands, the statue does not. Last month, the memorial was dramatically destroyed in a bizarre act of vandalism.

It was Halloween night and hundreds of families were going to church. Scores of princesses, superheroes, and even an Ebola victim lined up for candy and games. Dressed as Superman, I passed out Bibles next to a plinko board, one of several fair games setup. These children were skipping traditional trick-or-treating to, instead, visit Trunk-or-Treat.

Photo by Sarah Draper

Halloween at Edmond First Baptist Church was a unique contrast to the activities I remember of my youth. I recall memories of shuffling along poor lit neighborhoods, knocking on strangers’ doors, and always being slightly scared of what might happen. The news never made it any easier. Leading up to Halloween, I would hear reports of poisoned candy, child abductions, and other terrifying crimes. EFBC’s Trunk-or-Treat was the celebration I wished I had when I was younger. It was safe, well lit, and had more candy than a kid could hope for.

Greeting each child at the plinko game, Jeremy Duffle helped orchestrate Trunk-or-Treat. While this was his first time at the event, Jeremy heard of the growing trend among churches to provide a trick-or-treat alternative, “A lot of churches are offering this now as kind of a safe haven to bring their families and their kids in, to basically bypass the strange neighborhood or scary dark corner aspect of trick-or-treating.”

Photo by Sarah Draper

EFBC was certainly not alone in providing family friendly Fall events. Houses of worship across the country are reaching out to neighborhoods with fall festivals and Halloween night activities. In the Oklahoma City Metro, many churches opened themselves up to their communities.

Douglas Boulevard United Methodist Church hosted its own Trunk-or-Treat.

Putnam City Baptist Church sponsored FestiFall, a similar event with games and candy.

Mayfair Heights United Methodist Church held a Fall Festival featuring a craft show and bake sell.

(Source: NewsOK)

“What it’s doing is it’s giving our people, the people of this church, an avenue to reach out to those that they would never come in contact with before. It gave us a blank canvas to reach a lot of different people and in a very safe setting,” Jeremy said.

Safety is a major concern for many during Halloween night. Unfortunately, this Halloween saw the tragic deaths and injuries of children across the country. One incident in California led to the death of three teenage girls when struck by an SUV (Source: ABC). Another vehicular accident in California left a father dead and his son injured (Source: LA Times).

At EFBC’s Trunk or Treat, there were no fast moving cars. Police were present. Dozens of caring volunteers kept watch. Children orderly went from activity to activity. I observed hundreds of families attending. They were enjoying themselves and carefree. They were happy and safe. Jeremy agrees, “I think it went really well. We had a huge turnout.”

Trick-or-treating remains as traditional to Halloween as Jack-O-Lanterns and candy apples. However, churches are finding new ways to give families a safe atmosphere for costumed fun. Trunk-or-Treat and other Fall festivals are relevant ways for churches to give back to the communities they are in. The compassion of churches opening their doors will ripple throughout the surrounding neighborhoods, giving further opportunities to touch lives. As I watched children walking away with candy and a new Bible, I sensed that this small blessing of loving thy neighbor could have a tremendous impact in each child’s life.

Last week, I had the pleasure to attend OBEA’s Student Day held at OETA. I was greatly impressed by the presentation on the growth of digital content by OETA’s own digital/social media producers. Their works apire to change PBS’s image of being old-fashioned and attract millenials with technology/pop culture content via online videos. Their digital content strategy was presented under the hashtag “BeMoreDigital.”

I read articles about how different local TV stations utilize digital content. The biggest take away is that there are no hard rules. We are all pilgrims in a new land. Some stations utilize social media and digital content for promoting the brand or main content platform (broadcast, newspaper, etc). Others are creating innovating original content that suppliments other works. Neither is right or wrong but both need to happen to be effective.

In the early 2000’s, it was said that we were in a culture of two screens. We watched TV and surfed the net simultaneously. For a rather recent term, we are already beyond that. We are now in the era of three screens. The smartphone has joined the family.

Its the State of the Union. I watch the president speak live from my television. I read live commentaries from political analysts on news sites. I tweet followers and read tweets by the public. I am monitoring and dialoguing on multiple platforms to get a deeper understanding.

Depth. That is what is being desired with digital content. Audiences may see traditional journalism platforms as too 2-dimensional. According to the Pew Research Center, 82% of Americans were getting news from computers with 54% saying they received it from mobile devices in 2013. Digital content allows more immediate and deeper coverage of stories. Check cnn.com. Articles often feature a video below the header, story highlights on the side, and additional hyperlinked content throughout the piece. This gives a consumer to gain a deeper understanding than a newscast would allow. Even twitter’s limited 140 characters allows video, photos, and links to be incorporated. Audiences want depth and digital content does that.

News organizations and Digital Media companies already recognize this. The Pew Research Center indicates a significant hiring boom with many Digital News organizations like Vice, Mashable, and the Huffington Post. Even traditional news outlets are training and hiring journalists who can produce and post digital content. These media companies understand that surviving means being more digital.

Creating exclusive content is one of the strongest ways of being more digital. Utilizing social media for promotions and engaging the audience is good but what is most attractive is adding depth. OETA started several digital programs like the “Idea Channel,” and “The Okie Nerd Geekcast.” I’ve seen some local stations post content during the “Ice Bucket Challenge,” that swept the nation. News organizations post exclusive reporter packages, full-length interviews, behind-the-scenes segments, and other content on digital platforms.

As the faculty advisor for a student-run TV station, I reflect on digital strategy I could employ. News 30 is the weekly cable access news program, run by students at Oklahoma Baptist University, for the city of Shawnee. With only one newscast per week, I see great applications of the challenge to be more digital. I envision daily 3-5 minute newscasts, exclusive reporter packages, spotlights on local residents and organizations. I believe that embracing digital content allows for hyper-local journalism that a community will gather around. I look forward to its implementation at OBU.

I do not ring the death bell for traditional journalism venues. Research, actually, shows their growth. I do recognize that new platforms are available and these platforms have an audience. For journalists to continue to engage the public with news, we need to get online. We need to #bemoredigital.

Her weekdays begin by arriving into the office in business casual. She assists clients until lunch, enjoys her break at a local deli, then back to work till close. Afternoons are spent watching Netflix with her husband. Saturday, she favors shopping in Oklahoma City’s best malls. Sunday, of course, she will be found attending church. The life of a typical American woman. However, Chirya is not an American woman. Chirya is a Pakistani Christian, a permanent resident living in Oklahoma.

Pakistani. Christian. Two words that appear to be antonyms of each other. However, for a minority in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan these two words come together.

*Pakistan has a population of over 150-million.

*Islam is the state religion of Pakistan.

*Muslims comprise over 96 percent of the population.

*Christians amount to only 1.6 percent of the population.

(Source: Library of Congress)

Now living in the US for a little over two years, Chirya has spent most of her life living in both Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. She summarizes her time in the Middle East with one word, “fragile”. Chirya, a third generation Christian, lived in fear and suffered persecution by the Muslim majority and a society that devalued women.

Chirya was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. Compared to the freedoms she experiences in America, life for a girl in Pakistan is difficult. “It is a conservative culture, living in a Muslim country…There are somethings that Christians and Muslims both believe like there’s not a lot of freedom for girls…Some people just think that as soon as they turn 16 or 18 they should arrange their marriages.”

Despite being from a Christian household, Chirya still lived in a society where marriages are often arranged. Pakistan, like the rest of the Greater Middle East, is a honor and shame society. Girls are expected to submit themselves to their family’s decisions. Often, parents will arrange to marry their daughters young to preserve their honor. Rumors of their girls seeing boys or displaying independence will be seen as shameful. Among the most conservative beliefs, honor can only be restored by the execution of the daughter.

Fighting back tears, Chirya recounts how her own father attempted to arrange her marriage. “I was in grade 10 and he thought that it will be too disgraceful for him if I get to know a guy, if I have a boyfriend or fall in love. He was afraid of all these things because of how his reputation would be affected.”

Ultimately, Chirya was given the choice to marry freely but she still suffered from gender inequality. “Growing up in that conservative culture, you always feel like you are not treated equal to men. Men have all kinds of freedom and girls are always restricted…There is always a kind of line you cannot cross.”

Chirya grew up dominated by a male-centered culture. However, nothing caused more fear than living under persecution from the Muslim majority. Her home country of Pakistan is ranked 8th for persecution against Christians (Source: Open Doors). Pakistan’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion but many Pakistani Christians feel this is an empty promise (Source: Library of Congress). “Its true that the Pakistani government gives freedom to Christians to build churches and practice their religion but there has always been some kind of clash and persecution.”

The persecution of Christians in Pakistan and throughout the Middle East takes many forms. To Chirya, all Muslim countries are the same. Personal and professional discrimination of Christians is commonplace. Chirya cites examples of Muslims excluding her from their social circles during her college years in Pakistan. After college, she moved to the United Arab Emirates, working as an English instructor. One of the few Christian employees, she found herself passed up for promotion by her juniors, despite her status as senior faculty. “Why was I not considered? ‘Because I’m Christian?’ That’s the first question that comes in your mind. I felt hurt. I felt I was not recognized, my abilities and my talent.”

There is more to fear than discrimination. On average, 180 Christians worldwide are killed every month for their beliefs (Source: Open Doors). This number continues to grow as turmoil in the Middle East leads to violence against minority groups. Islamists have taken advantage of the Arab Spring, Syrian civil war and conquest of ISIS. Muslim extremists are slaughtering Christians with little opposition as ISIS’s forces and ideology spread across the Middle East. However, some killings are government sanctioned. Pakistan, among several Muslim nations, have harsh blasphemy laws. An accusation of blasphemy against Islamic beliefs can lead to the death penalty, regardless of lack of evidence.

Chirya and her family have suffered loss from Muslim extremists. “My Uncle’s place, where he lived, they burnt the whole community…Our relatives in Peshawar were going to church and just a bomb explosion happened. We lost four of them.”

Chirya may live in America but feels no peace. While she is safer, her family continues to live in nations where persecution of Christians is rampant. Her voice is one of a countless multitude who must endure religious persecution and gender inequality. All she asks of her fellow Pakistanis is to, “Live and let others live.”

Sources:

Federal Research Division (2005). Library of Congress Country Profile of Pakistan. Retrieved October 21, 2014 from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Pakistan.pdf

Open Doors USA (2014). World Watch List. Retrieved October 21, 2014 from http://www.worldwatchlist.us/world-watch-list-countries/